I had a 97 4runner and recently upgraded to an 07 tacoma after driving an 04 4runner. Honestly, if you don't need the newest, best car out there to look good, the 3rd generation 4runners are about as good as it gets. I regret selling mine... and instead should have saved about 18k and bought some nice seat covers from wet okole and been happy. Just my personal opinion. 3rd gen 4runners are amazingly well built tanks, and while they have a couple minor problems (powered antennae), 99.9% run forever without any real maintenance. That's just my take. Also, you can get a manual tranny through 2000 with the 3rd gen. Don't know if that's your thing...but it's not available past then.
Unless you need a v-8 for towing
A bigger v-6 to feel good about yourself (you can get a 3rd gen supercharger)
3rd row seats
Then you should get a 3rd generation. I'm not familiar but some of the late model 3rd gens have more plastic bumper/fender pieces that are not as tough as my 97 4runners. You'd have to check that.
EDIT: I might also add that even though I'm just 20 years old, I've driven several vehicles in the snow a lot and the 4runner is the best out of them. I also am somewhat oldschool because I hate all the electronic bull they put in the new 4runners and even tacomas... drive by wire throttle=throttle lag... the new ABS in my tacoma ABSOLUTELY SUCKS. All the TPMS malfunction in cold weather... VSC tends to have problems. And they're all very costly to fix. 3rd gen 4runners without VSC and that crap are just mechanically sound and are much more dependable (in my opinion) as a result. It had a great ABS system as well.
The one advantage of 4th gen is side-curtain airbags.
Unless you need a v-8 for towing
A bigger v-6 to feel good about yourself (you can get a 3rd gen supercharger)
3rd row seats
Then you should get a 3rd generation. I'm not familiar but some of the late model 3rd gens have more plastic bumper/fender pieces that are not as tough as my 97 4runners. You'd have to check that.
EDIT: I might also add that even though I'm just 20 years old, I've driven several vehicles in the snow a lot and the 4runner is the best out of them. I also am somewhat oldschool because I hate all the electronic bull they put in the new 4runners and even tacomas... drive by wire throttle=throttle lag... the new ABS in my tacoma ABSOLUTELY SUCKS. All the TPMS malfunction in cold weather... VSC tends to have problems. And they're all very costly to fix. 3rd gen 4runners without VSC and that crap are just mechanically sound and are much more dependable (in my opinion) as a result. It had a great ABS system as well.
The one advantage of 4th gen is side-curtain airbags.